NARS week is drawing to a close, and today’s cream blushes were so bright, I decided to forego the eyeliner divider marks. Lokoum is pink with a few silver sparkles. Constantinople is more rose. Montenegro is nearly purple; Turkish Red is berry. These blushes seemed less sheer than yesterday’s — probably preferred by darker skinned women. Maybe anyone could apply these sheerly enough to pull them off… maybe I’m daydreaming. Cactus Flower sure did look pretty, though.

Because many of NARS’ blushes are very pigmented, you may find yourself using them up very slowly. I just want to say: Powder products almost never go bad. Do not believe CVS when they claim May is “Toss Out Your Makeup Month” — that’s the most transparent sales ploy of all time. If it doesn’t look weird or smell bad, you’re fine. Cream products are more prone to going bad than powders, but if you’re a normal makeup user who keeps her products clean, you shouldn’t be worried about your makeup going bad before you can use it up. Your eyes and nose will tell you when it’s time to toss.

NARS Cream blushes are $24; NARS Powder blushes are $25.Edit: If you’re worried that some of these look unwearable, remember they are swatched to their maximum color volume, to best show the differences between shades. In the case of these cream blushes, that means they’re almost as dark as they look in the pan. If you’re wearing them, you’ll use much, much less, and blend. KiuKiu very graciously provided this demonstration.